Flight of the Phoenix: Book 3
Plot Summary All challenges placed before Phoenix Team have been overcome, if not in the best ways. But now their time of reckoning is coming, and their skills will be stretched to the limit. Prologue 1600 Hours, October 2nd, 2580 (UNSC Military Calendar) "Rulings shall now commence." This is the way the world ends. "Lieutenant Commander Sarah Ignacio, on the charges of high treason, you are hereby found innocent." We strove so hard to overcome the odds, but in the end it was our own friends, our brothers and sisters, who were our greatest enemy. "Petty Officers SPARTAN-B091 and SPARTAN-B292, on the charges of high treason and mutiny, you are hereby found innocent." This is the way the world ends. "Doctor Jeremiah Johansson, on the charge of high treason, you are hereby found innocent." We were smarter. We were faster. We overcame a larger, more well-equipped enemy. In doing so, we saved the lives of our enemies. My Spartans. "SPARTAN-D102, on the charges of high treason, mutiny, and conspiracy to assassinate a head of state, you are hereby found innocent." But I lost a brother. I lost a Spartan even as I freed thousands. "SPARTAN-D1074, on the charges of high treason, insubordination, and conspiracy to assassinate a head of state, you are hereby found innocent." X gave his life to save mine. I failed him. I failed myself. "SPARTAN-D576, one the charges of high treason, insubordination, and conspiracy to assassinate a head of state, you are hereby found innocent." I cannot fail again. "SPARTAN-D339, on the charges of high treason, mutiny, dereliction of duty, assassination of a head of state, you are hereby found-" This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang, but with a whimper. "Guilty. You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in a maximum security facility without parole, and will be stripped of rank and all honors, to commence immediately. This court is now adjourned." In the end, I always win. Part 1: "It's all going to Hell, now." Chapter 1: Descent 1623 Hours, May 13th, 2581 (UNSC Military Calendar) "Piece of shit!" Sarah Ignacio sank the knife into the Jackal's belly, her hand still fumbling for her dropped pistol. Months of interrogations, background checks, retesting, training, more exams... and now this. She wasn't used to fighting Jackals. Especially not ones with armor. She was a covert operative, dammit. Fucking Jackals. She twisted the knife, and the Jackal screeched in pain as blood oozed from the wound. Her other hand found the barrel of her SM6V/SOCOM. She brought it around, the butt smashing into the Jackal's eye. It screamed again and loosened its grip on her. A quick flick of the wrist and she had her finger on the trigger. Another muscle twitch and the Jackal's brains made interesting patterns on the purple wall. The body dropped to the floor. Sarah didn't wait for the Grunts at the end of the hallway to start firing now that the Jackal was out of their way. She pushed against the wall, sending herself down a hallway and out of sight, and not a moment too soon. Plasma sizzled past the corridor she'd just been in. "Bravo Three, what's your status?" SPARTAN-D576's voice came over the com. Sarah could hear gunfire. "Dealing with a bit of a problem... an EMP burst caught my suit and punched through the EMP shielding." "Hold your position, we're on our way." Sarah sucked in a breath and let the magazine fall from her handgun. She fished a new one out and rammed it in to place. The reload complete, she holstered the sidearm and pulled out her M14/S. This would be a bit rough, especially without her active camouflage patterns working... A grenade bounced around the corner. Sarah threw herself backwards and rolled, coming up with her gun butt slammed to her shoulder. A black-clad jackal spun around the corner, plasma pistol up. He spotted Sarah and flicked his wrist just as she fired. Three rounds punched through the Jackal's suit and tore through the alien's throat. A bolt of plasma smacked into Sarah's stomach and she went down on one knee. "Ah... Dammit!" She cursed, and pulled a grenade of her belt, arming it and tossing it around the corner. There was a high-pitched squeal, and then a muffled whump followed by a small shower of blood and gore. A quick probe with her fingers told Sarah that her armor had taken the brunt of the plasma bolt, but the flesh underneath was severely burned. A shot of pain rolled up her side. Damn curiosity. The noise from around the corner increased. More grunts, a lot more grunts were on their way. "Dammit, Spartan, where are you?" Sarah muttered, raising her weapon again. "Right here." Sarah turned and came face-to-face with Phoenix Two's breastplate. The Spartan was standing in the middle of the corridor, splattered with blood. Two reached up and flicked what looked like an intestine off her pauldron. "Where's the rest of your team?" Sarah asked, not lowering her weapon. "On the Pelican. We're getting out." Two raised her pistol and fired once, blowing the head off an inquisitive Grunt. There were squeals of "Demon!" and panicked feet fleeing. Deeper growls ordered the Grunts to stop. Brutes. "Where to?" Sarah said a little too hastily. "I'm marking the path on your HUD. Go. I've got your six." Two holstered the pistol and raised her MA7. Sarah didn't hesitate, sprinting off along the virtual orange line laid out in front of her. Soon enough she was at the hangar doors, and approached them cautiously. Alpha-9 operators are required to be or become fluent in at least five major human languages and one alien language. The Jiralhanae Chieftain standing just behind the hangar door caused her to cuss in all six of them. Sarah didn't stop, immediately tucking and rolling into a small ball right between the monster's legs. She came up running and swore she could feel the wind from the chieftain's gravity hammer as it swung around. Sarah primed two frag grenades and dropped them as she ran, sprinting towards the waiting Pelican. She heard the chieftain throw himself to the side, shields taking a hit from the explosives. She heard two projectiles whistle by her ears and instinctively ducked. The high-velocity grenades slammed into the bulkhead behind the chieftain, draining the rest of his shields. As the brute roared, rising from the ground, a third grenade hit him in the chest and scattered bits of him across the wall. Sarah felt something punch her leg, and it collapsed beneath her. Looking down, she saw a massive metal spike sticking right through her thigh. Looking up, she saw a brute bearing down on her. There was a green blur overhead, and a Spartan slammed into the Brute, gauntlet knives flashing once, and then the brute went limp. Sarah felt two hands lift her up and sling her over an armored shoulder. Another Spartan was carrying her to the Pelican, holding an SMG one-handed and firing it with unnerving accuracy. She was set down on the blood tray of the Pelican as the rest of the UNSC forces clambered aboard. "We're clear, go!" An ODST yelled up to the pilot, who nodded and gunned the throttle. The soldiers leaned a bit as the Pelican sailed out of the docking bay, plasma bolts and needler rounds still bouncing off the sides. The numbness in Sarah's leg was beginning to fade, and pain was beginning to shoot up and down it. "Hold still." One of the Spartans said flatly. Sarah recognized the voice. "Phoenix Four? I thought you were all split up." Sarah grunted as Itzia administered a painkiller and gripped the spike, canister of bio-foam at the ready. "We were. Now hold still." Itzia said, making sure she had a good grip on the metal shard in Sarah's leg. This was not off to a good start. Chapter 2: Spartans Never Die 1623 Hours, October 21st, 2581 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Hades Maximum Security Detention Facility "Prisoner 627-A, report to the Warden's Office." The magnetic seal unlocked. Wings rose from his cot and placed his hands in the slit and felt the cuffs wrap around his wrists. He knew they were really just to make the guards feel safe. He could easily break them if he wanted to. In fact he had identified at least two dozen escape routes from his cell alone, with the cuffs on. Six guards were kept close at all times, with snipers covering them from catwalks. Major mistake leaving the guards close; Their heavy armor would make good shields if grabbed and held. "What does the good warden want today?" Wings asked, deadpan. "Shut up." The guard just behind him barked. "You sound nervous, Wade." Wings smiled internally. He could hear the guard's teeth grind. It was a two mile walk to the Warden's office. The HMSDF was big. The warden sat silently for a good ten minutes after Wings was seated across from him. At precisely the ten minute mark, he slowly tapped a touchscreen and put the pen down. "Five more prisoners escaped last night. I'm told you might know how." Wings blinked. "That's most unfortunate." The warden's jaw tightened. "All of them were murderers. Between them they are responsible for the deaths of well over a thousand people." "If you stretch the definition of 'people' to include alien life forms, sir, I'd be willing to bet I can easily outmatch their kill count." "This isn't a game, Spartan." The warden stood, face turning slightly red. "But it's such a fun one to play." "What do you know about the escapees?" "Nothing. I talked to them a few times, but I did not help them escape." "They wounded three of my guards in their escape and caused thousands of credits of damage, perhaps millions." "Sounds a lot less than a death to me." The warden gritted his teeth. "You're being placed in isolation until the five men who escaped are brought back in." "Seems fair. Wonder what that does to others' visitation rights." The warden sat back down. "Get him out of here." He snapped. Wings stood and felt two guards push him toward the door. "Bad idea touching a prisoner. It lets them know where you're holding the gun." He shot at them. "Shut the fuck up and move." *** Max security isolation cells were designed to drive people insane. Perfect eight by eight by eight cubes of featureless titanium-A, the only noticeable difference being a cot just large enough for a human to lie on and small, almost imperceptible cracks where the door was. The solitary ceiling light was out for nine hours a day and on the rest of the time. The room was sound-proofed, radiation proofed, and EM proofed. Essentially a perfect sensory deprivation hole. A slat in the door was opened two hours after the lights came on, at "midday," and two hours before the lights went out to facilitate the transfer of food. But still, Wings thought to himself as he tucked in to a bowl of hot porridge. Better than crawling The Trench. "The Trench," as the Delta trainees had dubbed it, was essentially that, except every trainee had to crawl through it while live ammunition was fired over their heads and the bottom was filled with rotting entrails of animals and, some thought, aliens. During one long session Phoenix Team and a few other teams had been stuck in The Trench... *** 0123 Hours, July 25th, 2556 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: New Quebec SPARTAN Training Facility Wings pulled on Peri's arm as X and Matt lifted the I-beam as far as they could. Peri gasped and pushed with her legs. Bullets whizzed and sang over their head, forcing the young Spartans to keep their heads low. Finally Wings felt the earth around Peri giving way, and he gave one huge heave. Peri slid out of the mound of dirt that had been trapping her for the past half hour and rolled over, not even concerned about the smell of the intestines she was lying in anymore. "The artillery fire is new." X commented as he slid over to Wings on his belly, Matthew right behind him. "And it almost got one of us." Wings responded. "Any sighting of the other teams?" X shook his head. "No hostile sightings so far." "Keep an eye out, then." Matthew slid past the both of them and peeked around the corner. "Shelter over here. Sure to be someone in it." "There's always someone in the shelter. Bet you there's an M21 LMG aimed right at this intersection, too." Hal said, pulling out his M6 sidearm. Wings looked at X. The young trainee grinned at him, white teeth shining from behind the bloodied face as he pulled out two cylinders. "Got cluster bangers ready. Should fry their optics." Wings nodded as the others looked at him. Teams weren't set yet, but Wings had an air about him that just said "follow me and everything will turn out okay." "Hal, Peri, get ready to dash to the other side. Matt and I will give you covering fire. X, soften 'em up with the bangers. On my mark." The small team of children ranging from ages six through ten huddled next to the corner. "Mark!" X threw one of the cluster bangers out. A split second before it detonated, Peri and Hal sprang from their positions and dove headfirst to the other side of the trench. A few shots from what indeed was an M21 rang out before the banger and its subsequent charges went off. Wings and Matt leaned out, firing several shots from their sidearms. "Got one!" Matt called out. "X, mark two!" Wings barked, ramming a fresh magazine home. Another banger went out. The instant it was finished detonating, four of the trainees sprang from cover, racing toward the small bunker. Hal felt one of the paint rounds smack into his leg, which immediately stiffened and went numb. He fell to one knee, still firing methodically at the mostly unseen targets. Peri was first in, colliding with another trainee who called herself Zero. Peri swung her pistol out, but Zero simply ducked and put two rounds in Peri's chest. As she fell, Zero grabbed ahold of her and held Peri in front of her like a human shield. X, who was still back at the intersection, carefully marked and fired two rounds that hit Zero's exposed feet. She dropped, and Hal finished her off with a headshot. As Wings ran he reached down and grabbed Hal, pulling him upright. "Matt, man that machine gun!" With the bunker now full of twitching trainees, team "Violet" was now in control of four out of the seven bunkers. Wings checked Peri. She was completely stiff, and thus "dead." "What do we do with 'em, boss?" X said as he entered, dropping an empty magazine and sliding a new one home. "Pile them up in front of the entrance." Wings said. "Use them as a barricade." X glanced at the trainees. Hostiles or not, they were still his friends. "Is that such a good idea?" "What else are they going to do?" "Fair enough." X said, a look of trepidation on his face. He, Wings, and Hal moved the frozen trainees and piled them in the entrance of the bunker as Matt stood guard with the M21. An artillery round detonated nearby. Dirt fell from the ceiling of the cramped bunker. "I hate this exercise." Matt said after a few minutes. "It can only get worse." Wings responded, settling in. It was going to be a long night. *** Wings paused as he looked around the room. On planets all around the galaxy nearly six thousand Spartans were fighting tooth and nail against the Covenant. And here he sat in a little cell with three hot meals a day and a cot. I have to get out of here. Chapter 3: They Just Go to Hell to Regroup 1354 Hours, October 10th, 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: CLASSIFIED Phoenix Two was used to staring down the scope of a rifle. It was what she'd done since she was six years old. Generally she was used to a firearm with a heavier caliber of munitions, but hey, taking down an Innie didn't require a .57 caliber round. The M45A she currently had a hold of was kitted in a fairly simple manner. Nothing outside a variable-zoom scope, a a bipod, and a suppressor. Nothing impressive, but good for working in a suburban area with lots of buildings around. "Two, you have eyes on?" Peec's voice came over the com. "Affirmative." Zero responded. "SaDoR's set up a perimeter. I count four snipers, two-dozen other foot-mobiles." "Four and I are moving in from the west. Can you take care of the snipers?" "Remember who you're talking to, Three. Two out." Zero turned her full attention back to her scope, lining up each of the four snipers. The Sons and Daughters of Reach had set up quite the little business here. Taking them out would cut off a significant supply chain of chemical warfare parts to the main force. The recoil from the rifle was so small that Zero didn't even feel it. Compared to the round of an SRS anti-materiel sniper, the M45A was tiny while still retaining a long range. It took two seconds for the round to reach the enemy sniper. A small spout of blood burst out of him, and he went limp. Zero had already fired two other rounds, firing the fourth as soon as the second round reached its target. "Snipers are silenced." She reported. "Move in." "Copy. Phoenix moving in." "Griffin Team, moving in." Amber-E3072's voice crackled over the com. "Four, try to keep up with the bird." "Not my fault she can apparently control bullets with her mind." Griffin Team's sniper, Lamp-E5156 responded. "Watch it." Amber snapped. Zero mentally bit her lip. Epsilon Company was still working out the wrinkles, and Amber was still getting used to properly being in command. She was good, but she was no Wings. "Phoenix Two, we have enemy armor entering the area. I count two Warthog LRVs and a kind of retrofitted Scorpion Tank. Four klicks east." Zero panned over to where Griffin Four had dropped a nav marker. Sure enough, two Warthogs with the usual LAAV chainguns on the back and a Scorpion tank were rolling westwards towards the compound. The SaDoR apparently didn't have the proper materials for mounting and firing the Scorpions usual cannon, so they appeared to have welded a pair of rotary cannons and a rocket launchers to the top of the Scorpion tank in place of the usual cannon. "Griffin Four, bust the tank. I've got the 'Hogs. On my mark." Zero took a lead on the driver in the front vehicle. Her first round took the driver in the face, and the Warthog immediately spun out of control and slammed into an embankment. Immediately the driver in the second vehicle slammed on the gas, and the Hog took off... and ran right into Zero's second round, which took the man in the chest. His 'Hog slammed into the rear of the first one, throwing the gunner into the windshield. Follow-up shots took out both gunners. Griffin Four wasn't armed with such an inconspicuous weapon. His SRS anti-materiel rounds ripped through the Scorpion driver's canopy, bouncing around in the cockpit and shredding the driver. "Armor neutralized." Griffin Four announced. "Good shooting, Phoenix." "What else would we do?" "Take a compliment?" "Focus on finishing the mission first, Epsilon." Zero said, keeping her tone emotionless. The Griffin Team sniper was a bit too talkative for her liking. "Sir." Was Lamp's only response before falling silent. Two klicks away, Griffin and Phoenix teams opened up on the SaDoR Insurrectionists, the lightly armored humans rapidly falling rapidly to the deadly accurate fire of the two Spartan teams. "Like fish in a barrel." Griffin Three, commented as he raked some rounds into a trio of remaining Innies. "Why were we sent here again? A team of ODSTs could have taken this lot out no problem." "UNSC has a bunch of new toys to play with, so they decide to crack down on the problem groups." Griffin Five answered. Zero liked Five. He never really said anything more than needed to be said. "And they wanted to make sure this job got done properly." Zero scanned the area. "All targets eliminated. Proceed with disposal." The teams in the Innie compound stowed their weapons and began setting the charges to take out the compound. Despite what Griffin Five had said, Zero's gut agreed with Griffin Three. Two Spartan teams, even if one was at a lower manpower, was more than enough to take out a relatively small Innie compound. Less than three-dozen foot-mobiles generally called for two, maybe three, squads of Helljumpers. Zero shook off the feeling and opened a channel to the overhead Pelican dropship. "Kilo Five-One, this is Phoenix Two. Mission accomplished, requesting exfil." "Copy, Phoenix. Get to the rendezvous point. Five-One out." The channel clicked shut. Zero snapped the bipod closed and slung the rifle onto her back, pulling out an M12 submachine gun. Intel said these Innies were the only ones here, but you can never be sure. There are always ways to spoof sensors. Most of the town was deserted. Here and there a wild animal picked among the ruins. Zero rarely saw wooden structures; in fact, she rarely even saw wood outside a forest. "Two, I found something. You're going to want to see this." Zero blinked as Peec opened a private com. It had to be urgent. All he had to do was wait the five minutes it would take her to jog over to the dropship. "What is it, Three?" She responded, shutting down her command channel. "I'm sending you a data file. You may want to have a chat with the Lieutenant Commander sometime." Zero bit her lip as the data dumped into her suit's memory banks. She pulled up the file on her HUD, not slowing in her stride through the town, an eye on her motion tracker. "Wings, you have a lot of explaining to do," She muttered as she perused the file. *** 1400 Hours, October 12th, 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Hades Maximum Security Detention Facility "Clean!" The guard scanning Zero announced. "Let her through!" A buzzer went off, and the plasma screen in front of Zero dissipated, allowing her to enter the next room. Wings was already there, handcuffed with an electromagnet holding the cuffs securely to the table. "Two. It's good to see you." Wings said, a hint of a smile flickering on his face. He was always hard to read, but Zero knew she was one of the few people who could read him, even when he wasn't letting himself be read. "Commander." She nodded, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. She knew that most of the guards here wouldn't be listening. Of course, prison guards were the last of her worries at the moment. There was Osman... "Been a while. How goes HAMMERDOWN?" Wings asked, intertwining his fingers on the table. "Well enough. Could be faster. I ran across something on our last mission." Zero leaned forward a bit. "Something about a Malkavian and his 'good friend.'" Wings just blinked once, betraying nothing to anyone who was watching. His voice dropped a bit, lips less animated. "I wanted to tell you, but didn't think it would be a good idea at the time. I just set it up, and then..." He lifted his hands, indicating the cuffs. Something in the back of Zero's mind told her that Wings was... nervous? That didn't happen often. "Tell me what?" Wings straightened. "On your next mission you're going to be told to assassinate a High Value Target by the name of Michael Malkavian. Two... he knows your parents." Zero felt a punch in her gut. "How do you know?" "He told me so. Even if I hadn't believed him, he had a full file on them from before what happened to your family during the war." Wings said, reluctantly. "Two... Zee. Don't go digging into things if you don't necessarily want to know the answers." Zee. That wasn't a nickname Wings had used in years. The last time he had, a good man had died. "I'll do my best, sir. Nice to see you again." Zero stood and moved towards the plasma barrier. "Good to see you too, Two." The plasma barrier opened again as the buzzer sounded, and Zero was let back out. Dammit, Wings. What happened to them? Why did you keep this from me? *** 0430 Hours, October 17th, 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Sanctum, Yggdrasil "The target is one Michael Malkavian." The ONI agent said as the Pelican flew high over the terraces of Sanctum. "He's one of SaDoR's higher-ups. Your recent hit on their manufacturing plant has forced the organization to take some desperate measure to acquire materials, and they got a bit sloppy. Malkavian is being housed in a luxury penthouse in the middle of Sanctum. I'm sending you the schematics. Orders are to locate and terminate. Good luck, Spartans." Griffin and Phoenix Teams gave responses in the affirmative, and the agent went forward to the cockpit. Zero was still mulling over what Wings had said to her. Peec glanced in her direction, then decided that that was enough silence. He opened a private com to her. "We're not going to take him out, are we." There was a half-second pause. "Negative." "Wings knows him, doesn't he." "Of course." "And he knows something about you." "... Yeah. Just keep Griffin away from us. I'm seeing a couple of high-profile targets on-site that they can take out. We'll go in for Malkavian." "Don't worry. You'll have your privacy." "Thanks." "No need to thank me." Peec shut the channel down and glanced across at Amber as Zero began relaying orders for Griffin to hit the high-profile targets on the site. Amber may be a Lieutenant, but Zero had experience and command of Delta Company, and thus had been given command of the Spartans in Operation: HAMMERDOWN. He knew that Amber would be privately protesting to Zero, but she would comply. It was sort of weird having a cousin in the service, and yet, in a way, not. She didn't even know that she was related to him. Not yet, at least. "Hitting the DZ in thirty seconds!" The pilot announced. "Get ready to pound dirt." Zero said. "Active camo all the way. I want them to think we're just offloading some cargo." The Pelican landed at the VIP landing strip just outside Terrace Suites United. Kilo Five-One's Pelican was a specially designed ONI Pelican. Lightly armed and armored compared to the usual dropships of the type, but it had a few little tricks up its sleeve. One of these was an adaptive camouflage similar to the active camouflage of the Spartans' armor, but instead of blending in with its surroundings it could change color and patterns at will. Currently the Pelican was a blazing red color with flames on the leading edges of the wings and nose, resembling some form of privately owned Pelican. The dropships had gained some popularity with the elite class after the war, as older Pelican models began going onto the market stripped of armaments. "Rules of engagement, sir?" Griffin Two asked. "Return fire only. No need to get into a firefight we don't need to be in. According to ONI there are multitudes of SaDoR's best occupying the top five floors of the building. Griffin Team will secure any and all known access points and prevent Malkavian from escaping. Kilo Five-One will remain on over-watch to prevent any Innies from providing air support. We've got three teams of ODSTs ready to move in and secure the area once the target is taken down. That clear, Spartans?" "Clear, sir!" Came the chorus. "Then put your camo on and let's move." The Spartans were fully cloaked by the time the rear hatch opened. If anyone glanced over at the newest arrival to the port all they'd see was the back hatch of an annoyingly colored Pelican opening to let yet another rich man with a lot of cargo offload. A person with a very sharp eye who was watching closely might have caught a faint shimmer in the air as eight super-soldiers made their way towards Terrace Suites Utd. A few minutes later the rich man's cargo was unloaded, and the Pelican lifted off. As it disappeared into the clouds it engaged its own active camouflage and aimed its sensors towards the large, majestic building. "Griffin, you're in first. Secure the elevators." Zero ordered. "Copy Phoenix One." Amber responded. Zero watched the nav marker that indicated Amber's position move towards the glass doorway and pause, waiting for a group of some corporate executives to leave the building. "Some sort of convention going on, it seems." Lamp commented. "Lot of collaterals if things get loud." "Then make sure it doesn't get loud." Zero responded as Griffin successfully made it inside and wormed their way through the lobby and to the elevators. "Griffin Four, stay in the lobby until I say otherwise." "Is that really necessary, sir?" Lamp responded, sounding a bit miffed. Zero frowned and opened a private channel to Griffin Four. "I am in tactical command of this Operation and as such you will do what I say when I say it, Epsilon. Is that clear?" "Sir," came the terse reply. "Yes sir." "Good." Zero cut the private channel back to the command channel. "Phoenix, up the north stairs. Griffin, take the south staircases. The target is on the top floor in a private suite. Griffin, secure all access points. Phoenix Three, jam any electronic signals on the top five floors." "Copy, One." Came Peec's reply. The next ten minutes were a slow and boring affair as the two Spartan teams jogged up the stairs. New Lactic Acid augmentations meant that Spartans now really had no limits to their stamina, and could theoretically run forever. Essentially the augmentation caused the Spartans' bodies to reprocess lactic acid as fast as it was produced, giving the effects of working muscles without causing burnout. Zero had heard that ONI was thinking about spreading the new augmentation to the rest of the armed forces, as it didn't require strict genetic markers like most of the Spartan augmentations had. "Phoenix One, this is Griffin One. We're outside what appears to be their security room." "Good work, Griffin. Bust them." *** Amber clicked over to her squad command channel as she stepped away from the door. "Two, breach charge. Everyone stack up." Griffin Two, Alphonse-1062, pulled out a small bar and gave a flick of his wrists, the bar coming apart in a frame connected by explosive tubing. He patched it around the frame of the door as Amber and Griffin Five, Heron-E2591, took up positions on either side. "Clear." He snapped, and hit the detonator. Before the SaDoR operatives in the room knew what hit them Amber and Heron were through the door, M12 SMGs spewing caseless rounds into their relatively unprotected bodies. One tried going for an alarm. Amber silenced him by blowing his hand off with a three round burst, then putting a round through each of his eyes. "Clear. And not a sound made." Amber said, opening the channel back to Phoenix Two. "Good work. Lock down the elevators and have Griffin Four join you." Zero responded with the detachment that said she was probably in the middle of doing some handiwork of her own. "Copy that. Griffin out." *** "Griffins got control of the elevators. He's not getting out that way." Zero said. "Peec, you got the com tower?" Peec's voice sounded a bit distracted. "Yeah, I've got it. They won't be calling for help." "Good." Zero shut down the com. "Four, how do you feel about patching up a guy?" Itzia glanced over at Zero. "Who?" was all she said. "Our target, of course. Come on." Zero moved through the next doorway, scanning the area for any Innies. Motion tracker was telling her at least four more were in a room right above them. "Pardon me for asking, but why would we be patching up the target we're supposed to find and kill?" Itzia sounded perplexed. Griffin may get the short string when questioning Zero, but there was a lot you could get away with when you were closer than siblings. "He knew my parents." Zero's voice was stiff as she silently marched up the polished staircase. Real mahogany. Worth a small fortune in most places. Itzia paused at the bottom of the staircase. She vaguely noticed the sprawling city outside the massive glass windows. Sanctum was home to well over 400 million human beings. The city was absolutely massive in scale. "I thought your parents-" "Yeah. I need to know." Itzia followed Zero up the steps, joining her at the doorway. Zero nodded. Itzia rammed her foot forward, heavy boot shattering the solid oak door into several pieces. Michael Malkavian was a man of most expensive tastes. Zero was a ghost as she flitted into the room, M12 rounds silently erupting from the gun, hitting their targets with quiet, wet smacks. The two Spartans found themselves in what appeared to be a rec room. The large room was split down the middle by an island counter, with arcade machines piled up next to each other in solid rows along the entire wall space. In the middle of the island counter was a what appeared to be a well-stocked larder. Itzia paused to examine some of the arcade machines. "Some of these much be twenty-second century," she said. "These are probably worth our annual pay." Zero just grunted a noncommittal response. "Target's two rooms over." Itzia muttered, moving back to business. "Looks like six targets between us and him." Zero kicked the door down and fired six rounds. "Pathetic." She grunted, stepping over a corpse. Itzia followed along. "Zee, you alright?" "I'm fine. Just have your bandages ready." Zero snapped. Itzia frowned. No, Zero was not okay. The topic of her parents were perhaps the one thing that brought her out of that Zen-like state of emotional balance. One time during training there had been an altercation with another trainee in Delta company. Apparently the boy had made a typical "your mom" joke common of ten-year old children. It had taken four handlers to pull Zero off of him, with shock batons. His face didn't resemble a human's all that much, but to this day not a single Spartan, save a certain few, even mention the topic of Zero's parents with her in earshot. Thing was, not even Zero really knew what had happened to her parents. Most Spartans were orphans, but the psychiatrist who examined her after the incident expressed extreme concern about repressed memories while still retaining an unspent emotional reaction to the incident. Zero didn't even bother going for inconspicuous. Malkavian jerked upright as the door to his office imploded inward, and on the other side of the cloud of wooden splinters was a very, very ticked off Spartan. "Oh sh-gk!" Was all he managed to sputter out before Zero's gauntlet wrapped around his throat in a grip of iron. "You knew Alice and Melvin Connor." Zero said, her voice deadly low and calm. Malkavian coughed and gasped for air. "I... I know them, yes." Zero let him drop to the floor. He coughed and sucked in a lungful of air. Then he bit off a good portion of his cheek as her fist connected with the side of his head. Another cough, and a few teeth and a good amount of blood spattered on the carpets. "Stop! I know them!" Malkavian held a hand up as Zero raised her fist again. "They're not dead! They're... I've been taking care of them! They're in Trinity Residential Hospital, Mandrake Ward, Room 2331A!" Zero uncurled her fist, but didn't take her eyes off Michael Malkavian. "Four, fix him up." She then opened a channel to Peec. "Three, Trinity Residential, Mandrake Ward, Room 2331A." "This relevant to the mission, Two?" Zero said, stepping back from Malkavian as Itzia knelt by the man and dosed him with a sedative. "Let's say yes for now." It was a few seconds before Peec had the relevant information. "Yeah, I have it. Occupied by a married couple. Alice and Melvin Connor... Two, that isn't who I think it is, is it?" Zero ignored Peec and switched back to her command channel. "Kilo Five-One, we have a package needing exfil. Mission is completed. Griffin, Phoenix Three, regroup at the roof." Amber was the first to have a private channel open. "Ma'am, orders were to terminate the target." Zero snapped an neural insulator collar onto Malkavian's neck as Itzia back away from the now unconscious man and hefted him over her shoulder. "Priorities have changed. I'm deeming him a target for capture and detainment. Secure any info you deem relevant and meet us on the roof for exfil. Phoenix Two out." Peec was already waiting for the rest as Zero and Itzia climbed the steps to the top of the roof. It really was an impressive building with an even more impressive view. A massive tower with literally thousand of apartments, and the penthouse on top was nothing short of magnificent. Terraced gardens adorned the rooftops, sprouting a large variety of plant life. Facing directly south and out to the ocean, two large, thousand-foot statues carried out a silent vigil atop two supporting pillars that ran all the way from the base of the tower to the top. Numerous sky-bridges and ferries connected the tower and the nearby Tower of Commerce and Trade. The windows running the height of the tower were so well-maintained that they reflected the artificial archways and deep-blue lake around them. The place was a marvel of human-engineering. Perhaps the first and only example of artificial landscaping on a massive scale. "What is all this, Two?" Peec asked, obviously wary. "I thought your parents were dead." Zero set Malkavian down in a patch of grass and wandered over to the ledge. She looked down at the dizzying height, and then up at the bright summer sun of Yggdrasil, depolarizing her visor to let its heat beat on her face. Someday she'd have to have a vacation here. "I thought so too, Three." She commented as Griffin Team jogged up to the roof, Griffin Four muttering darkly to himself. The fact that they still had a good three-hundred meters to go to get to Phoenix brought the sheer scale of the tower into focus. "Family is important to us all." She didn't miss Peec looking over at Amber as the younger Spartan jogged over. He looked back at Zero. "I know, Zee. Just don't go digging for something you may not want to know." There was an awkward silence as Griffin finally caught up. Zero opened a private channel to Peec. "One said the same thing." Peec just nodded as Kilo Five-One brought the Pelican down. Not a single soul below the six-hundred and fifty-seventh floor knew what had just transpired above their heads. One dull thump was put down to Malkavian simply having yet another piece of expensive, heavy furniture moved into place. Some poor delivery man was going to pay dearly for that. *** 1030 Hours, October 20th, 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Unknown Wings looked up as the two women entered, and had to fight the urge to stand and salute. Having your hands cuffed and magnetically sealed to the table tended to make that hard. Admirals Osman and the retired Parangosky took their seats on the opposite side of the table. Wings had been transported to a new facility recently. Unfortunately, he had no idea how long it had taken having been heavily sedated for the entirety of the trip. However, if two heads of ONI were here... "Must be the Point of No Return, then," the Spartan said aloud. "Felt the deck vibrations." Parangosky didn't say a word, just folded her hands in front of her on the table. It was Osman that spoke first. "Do you know why you're here, Spartan?" She stared, unblinking, at Wings. Wings matched the stare. "No idea." Osman's expression didn't change. "You're here because one of your teammates went against orders a few days ago and captured a High-Value Target instead of eliminating him as ordered. Several days before, she had a visit with you. You claimed that the man knew her parents and admitted openly that you knew the target. Care to explain?" Wings' eyes flicked to Parangosky. He could almost see her hiding the smile as he responded. "Please, Admiral, don't insult me. None of us are here because of that. It doesn't take two heads of the Office of Naval Intelligence to interrogate just one Spartan on their conduct." "Answer the question." Osman pressed. Wings didn't break the stare. "I knew Malkavian would eventually be made a target as I uncovered intel three years ago that led me to believe that ONI believed that he had been compromised. Who else would they send other than the best teams they could to find and eliminate him once he was located?" "So you admit to further acts of treason against the UNSC?" "No. I do not deny nor admit because there is nothing to deny nor admit. I was simply protecting Malkavian from ONI." This time Parangosky spoke, leaning forward slightly. The supercentenarian was still as cold as ever. "But Malkavian is a known ranked leader among the Sons and Daughters of Reach. Doesn't that mark him as a target in any case?" "We all know that the Sons and Daughters are just a front put forward by an ONI splinter group to test chemical and biological warfare methods on other Insurrectionists. You've just been having us deal with the real trouble-makers. Malkavian remained loyal the whole time. It's why Alice and Melvin Connor are still alive." Something in Osman's demeanor changed. "Tell me everything you know about Malkavian." Wings looked at her. "I've been imprisoned for two years now, Admiral. I've told you the start, now tell me why you locked me up while simultaneously promoting me and allowing me to keep my rank. Tell me why you haven't had me stabbed in the night or just thrown out an airlock. Even I don't know everything, but I'm guessing it's because you need me." There was an uncomfortable pause as Osman simply glared. Parangosky wasn't even trying to conceal the small smile spreading across her face. Osman was the first to speak, a full ten seconds later. "Fine. We need you. Let me start from the beginning." Wings allowed himself a mental smile. Chapter 4: Family 0900 Hours, October 22nd, 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Sanctum, Yggdrasil "Feels weird not being in our skin." Zero muttered, the civilian street clothes on her not hiding her height or her athletic build. Peec set the e-brake and looked at Zero. "Can't walk in to a hospital in full gear." Zero didn't meet his gaze, instead staring across the parking lot at the entrance. "I know." "You don't have to go in there." "Yes I do." Zero opened the door and got out. Peec followed suit. "Do you know what happened to them?" Peec ventured. Zero shook her head. It was impossible for people to not take notice of the two soldiers, even out of their usual gear. Both of them were a full head taller than most people, and the way they moved never failed to send a message of pure lethality. The receptionist at the desk smiled as Zero approached. The smile disappeared as Zero asked for directions. "I'll need ID." The receptionist asked, sounding slightly subdued. Zero handed her a datapad, which the lady looked over for a minute. "Excuse me," she said, and disappeared into the back room. Zero didn't move away from the desk until the lady reentered the room five minutes later. "Everything's in order. Please, follow me." The two Spartans followed the receptionist through a maze of hallways, stepping out of the way for the occasional wheelchair or bed. Several minutes later the receptionist handed them off to a nurse, who brought them to a door. Room 2331A. "I'm... afraid they won't respond much." The nurse said. "After what happened to them, they haven't said a word." She opened the door. Peec stayed out in the hall as Zero entered, and the door was closed behind her. Two men gazed up at her dully from their beds. Zero swallowed something stuck in her throat. "Hi, Dads." *** Zero had been in the room for almost two hours when Peec was once again approached by a nurse. "Excuse me, can I help you?" He glanced at her. "No, thank you. Just waiting for... my friend." He nodded at the door. The nurse glanced at the door, then back at him. "They never get visitors. Been here for almost twenty years now and no one's come to visit, and they haven't said a word." "Do you know what happened to them?" He asked, turning to face her. She shook her head. "No one really knows. They say that the two had a surrogate daughter, but she was lost years ago, during the war. It's said they haven't spoken since, and have never been out of eyesight of each other." Peec just nodded silently. "Forgive me for asking, but are you military?" The nurse asked. "Navy." "You here on shore leave?" Peec nodded. "Two weeks. Decided this was a good place to be." She smiled slightly. "Can I interest you in a drink after I get off work?" The Spartan just blinked, surprised, but recovered quickly. "If... you know a good place, I suppose." The timing of the question seemed a bit awkward to him, but then, he knew that there was a lot she would find weird about him. Perhaps working around things like this a lot tended to numb you to it. The nurse slipped someone into Peec's hand and walked off. He glanced at the small pad before stuffing it into his pocket as Zero came out and quietly closed the door. He didn't even ask how it went. *** "I had a surrogate mother." Peec took his eyes off the road long enough to give Zero a perplexed look. "DNA donations from your fathers." Zero nodded. "They treated her very well. She wanted to know what it was like to have a baby, and my fathers wanted a child of their own. I was seven when the Covenant found our planet." Peec just nodded dumbly. "Going to visit them again tomorrow?" "Yeah." "Did they... say anything?" A pause. "No. Listen, we've got two weeks of shore leave. Make the best of it. It's probably the only time we really will." Peec remembered the small pad of paper in his pocket. "I'll leave you the car." *** 0330 Hours, October 23rd 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Sanctum, Yggdrasil It seemed to Peec that even the atmosphere of Yggdrasil had been affected by human intervention. Or perhaps it was just the city below that kept the air of the hotel balcony warm as he leaned against the rail with naught but a pair of briefs on. Julie, the nurse, lay asleep on the bed, bare chest moving up and down rhythmically with her breathing, skin still sweaty from the pair's wild exertions. Peec allowed himself a small smile. She really hadn't been turned off when she found out he wasn't a "regular" Navy man. The Spartan felt a buzz from his neural implant. He accepted the call and activated the subvocal microphone installed in his throat, allowing him to talk without making a sound. "I'm here." "It's One." Peec stood up straighter, eyes darting around for any signs of surveillance. "I thought you were supposed to be in prison." "Still am. Enjoying your shore leave?" Peec glanced at Julie and smiled. "I suppose I am." "Osman has an agent who needs to drop something off with you. Meet him at the Tai-Yong Docks at 1300 later today. He'll find you." "Copy that. What about you?" "ONI needs me, too. I'll be in touch, out." "Over and out." Peec deactivated the microphone as he heard Julie stir. "What, you Sierras don't need as much sleep as a regular human?" He heard her ask. "Not quite." Peec walked back over to the bed. "You have work tomorrow?" She giggled and reached a hand out to pull him close. "Unlike you, I'm not required to work on weekends." Peec smiled and let himself be pulled in. I should take shore leave more often, he thought as their bodies pressed together once more. *** 1300 Hours, October 23rd 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Sanctum, Yggdrasil Having gotten no real sleep the night before last, Peec left Julie in the room around noon and drove down to the docks to meet with said ONI agent. Sure enough, he found Peec. "Sierra Delta One-Oh-Seven-Four?" Peec turned to see a man in a brown leather vest facing him. He continued speaking, holding out a small box. "For you. A gift." Peec took the box, and the man walked off. Back in the hotel room bathroom, with Julie still asleep on the bed, Peec carefully examined the box. No latches, just simple, smooth black metal. However, on the bottom of it he found a small tab that he pulled slightly, revealing what appeared to be a neural interface device attached to a wire. He chewed his lip for a minute, mentally double- and triple-checking the firewalls he and Element had programmed into his neural hub. Put the wrong virus in it and he could fry his brain. Having done that, Peec sat cross-legged on the soft carpet with the box in his lap, closed his eyes, and plugged it in. A full thirty seconds later he opened his eyes again. His senses came back to him, and he heard movement from the other room. He let the reel in the box pull the plug in and snap shut again, rose and opened the door, finding himself face-to-face with Julie, who had wrapped herself in a towel. "You done in here?" She asked politely. Peec nodded and stepped aside to let her in. "Need the shower?" He asked. "If it's no trouble." She responded, shedding the towel. "None at all. I'll be out here." He closed the door as the nozzle-head began spraying water and went to make the bed. Julie came out of the shower ten minutes later, pulling a shirt on. "Any plans for the day?" Peec nodded. "Kind of... I'm apparently moving in to Sanctum, in a fashion." Julie's face took on an interested expression. "That so?" "You're aware that I'm Special Forces." "Yeah..." "Well, we're going to be setting up a base of operations in Sanctum. I need to help my team move in when we gone done with shore leave." She sat down on the edge of the freshly made bed. "And today?" He smiled. "Just need to run something over there." "You're not regular Special Forces, are you. Not an ODST." He shook his head. "You're sharp." "I take care of habitual liars for a living." That got a chuckle out of him. "Then you should believe me when I say I'll let you know what I am soon." She nodded silently, not taking her eyes off him. "I suppose I should tell you my last name, then." He nodded too. "And you, mine." "Julie Harrison." "Jeffrey Morley." Chapter 5: Friends 0930 Hours, November 7th 2582 (UNSC Military Calendar) Location: Sanctum, Yggdrasil Zero nodded to Michael Malkavian as she carried the unmarked box in. "Sorry about the whole punching you thing." Malkavian grinned, showing off perfect white teeth. "Not the first time ONI's made mistakes, believe me." He gestured to his right arm. "Besides, I'll take losing a few tooth to a bullet in the head any day. Consider it forgotten." Zero nodded again, setting the case down. Peec came up behind, carrying one of his usual electronic devices. To Zero it looked like some sort of electronic warfare module of the kind used to shield and cloak electromagnetic signals. Probably used to disguise the fact that the UNSC was setting up shop where an Insurrectionist movement had before. "Besides," Malkavian continued, watching Griffin Team and Itzia bring in another load of gear. "Having the UNSC here is better protection than some Insurrectionists." "I suppose." Zero said noncommittally, heading back out to the landing pad to grab more supplies. The Spartans and ONI were essentially turning the bottom two floors of the penthouse into a form of base of operations. The planet of Yggdrasil was strategically important for being a vital trading hub for most of the UNSC's colonies, and Sanctum was the largest trading port on Yggdrasil.